• Japan-based Nippon Sheet Glass Group will lay off an upwards of 75 employees at its Pilkington float plant in Laurinburg, N.C., in light of the temporary idling of one of its two float lines. The decrease in the plant’s production is projected to be finalized between August and September 2012.

• Silicon Metal Industries is behind a $300 million silicon smelting project in Southland, New Zealand, plans to go to the stock exchange to raise capital. The company wants to mine silica at Pebbly Hills; Southland holds an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 tons of high-purity silica as well as one billion tons of potentially useable lower-grade silica.